By Kim Taylor

Hi there, my name is Kim Taylor and I am the owner and a stylist at Essence Hair, Skin, and Body. We opened our doors on May 2, 2011 with one goal in mind; providing excellent beauty and wellness services to the community in a relaxing and unpretentious environment. Becoming a part of the Evergreen community has been an incredible experience, and we have truly been blessed.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I knew that we had some important decisions to make. While we had experienced success and steady growth at our Hilltop location we felt that it was time for our next step towards solidifying the business. We knew we needed a more visibility, but there was no way we could stomach another buildout if we didn’t own the space. In May of 2015 we found what we were looking for, a single story building in Bergen Park. Better visibility, easy access, great parking, surrounded by open space- PERFECT. Okay, almost perfect. The building needed to be rezoned and completely gutted after being a veterinarian’s office for thirty years. Anyone who knows us knows that we have a tendency to bite off more than we can chew every chance we get. It’s been a blessing and a curse over the years, but hey- we’re still standing, right? VERY long story short, we spent 7 months rezoning and financing the building and another 6 months pouring ourselves into a really challenging renovation. The result? A beautiful, relaxing, unpretentious new location designed to better care for our clients!

I believe that our most significant responsibility in life is to be good to each other. This is the true “essence” of this retreat style salon and spa– meeting the beauty and wellness needs of our clients while synchronously going beyond the surface to touch their lives. Sometimes an hour or two away from our hectic lives is all we need to feel rejuvenated and ready to continue giving our best to those we love.

The staff at Essence is committed to staying current in education and trends. It is our mission to provide exceptional service with beautiful results. We offer complete head to toe care: hair, nails, skincare, massage, and spray tanning are all provided by trained and talented professionals.  The result is an unforgettable experience that will nourish both the body and the soul.

Our hair studio offers a wealth of services: beautiful dimensional color, maintenance (gray coverage), customized cutting and styling, conditioning and smoothing treatments, and hair extensions for starters. We have a creative team of stylists that come to work each day eager to surpass expectations. Emily Passaloukas (Walter), who has been with us since the beginning is a beautifully free spirit and a true creative. Mackenzie Morrison is well rounded, consistent, detail oriented, and patient. She is also our in-house hair extension specialist. In September, after working closely with me for the better part of a year, Kelly Wiggins began building her own clientele. Kelly has blossomed into a great stylist- she is quiet and kind, don’t be surprised if she is more interested in learning about you than talking about herself. In October, we welcomed Kristen Sherman to our styling team. A recent transplant from the east coast, Kristen brings over fourteen years of experience with her. She is hard working, fun, and full of energy.

Our spa offers a complete menu of skincare services including facials, peels, dermaplaning, microdermabrasion, and more. Lindsey Sloan and Serissa Asta customize every service to accommodate the unique needs of each client. In addition to improving the quality of your skin, we also offer brow shaping, face and full body waxing, brow and lash tinting, and makeup. Our “healing hands” belong to Gigi Worley who has spent years honing her skills in massage therapy. Our most requested types of massage are therapeutic and deep tissue; however, we also offer prenatal, hot stone, and lymphatic massage to help strengthen the immune system. Our sole manicurist, Penny Sutter has years of experience in manicures, pedicures, and acrylic nails.

I am personally very proud of our team. All of these ladies are unbelievably talented and amazing to work with.

To get 2017 started off right, we have put together some great seasonal offerings:

Instant Luminosity Facial

Specialty facial that includes a lactic acid peel for deeper results without the downtime usually associated with peels. Great for aging, hyper-pigmented, normal and combination skin.

60 minutes/ $100

Cranberry Massage

Relax and unwind with the power of cranberry to help smooth and soften skin. This treatment incorporates the warmth and comfort of hot stones to aid in relaxing tight muscles for a more effective treatment.

60 minutes/ $88                 90 minutes/ $116

• Ask about pairing a brown sugar scrub with your cranberry massage!

Awaken Scalp Treatment

Soothe and invigorate dry winter scalp. Increase blood circulation to promote healthy cell turnover and reduce flaky scalp and itching.

45 minutes/ $45                 Add to any hair service/ $15

• Please ask for this treatment when booking your service as it will add approximately 15 minutes to your appointment.

For a full menu of our services please visit our website: www.essencehairandbodyretreat.com. To receive emails about our seasonal and special offerings, contact us through the website or call the salon- we’re happy to add you to our mailing list.

Finally, for those of you who are already loyal clients, thank you for your support- it helped strengthen my resolve through a challenging yet very rewarding 2016.

And as a note to future clients; walk-ins and same day appointments are always welcome upon availability- and we ALWAYS try to accommodate. So, if you haven’t been in yet, call or stop by, we look forward to meeting you!